Implications of Design Thinking for Teaching, Learning, and Inquiry

The term design thinking has recently gained prominence within postsecondary design programs across the United States. The term is often used to explain and advocate for design's unique approach to solving problems in innovative ways. The term is also used as a general description for unexplained or ill-defined representations of what designers do. If design educators have a clear understanding of design thinking, they can improve teaching and learning, and reframe design-based and interdisciplinary inquiry. This article addresses design thinking through two layers. The first layer highlights key ways that designers think through an overview of more than 50years of design thinking's foundational literature. The second layer reports a 3-year-long, teaching-and-learning research project that compared learning in a design course and a similar nondesign course. The research project explores the application of design thinking's key ideas through the two courses. The project examined learning by 110 students enrolled in two courses during an annual, residential, summer enrichment program for high school seniors. The courses were structured in parallel ways for exploring design thinking and wicked problems, but addressed design and nondesign topics. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the courses and student learning demonstrate how the students used attributes of design thinking. The results challenge design educators to reconsider how design thinking may influence the classroom and inquiry.